Your check, sir

Standard & Poor's analysts said today that the tab for the meltdown of mortgage and credit markets could total $265 billion, with losses spreading from investment firms that have already made about $90 billion in write-downs to regional banks, credit unions and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Housing prices will fall 13 percent before bottoming out in early 2009, the rating agency predicts, which is bad news for many of those holding the $342 billion in adjustable-rate mortgages expected to reset during 2008.

Mortgage and bond insurers will also have to grapple with the implications of downgrades or potential downgrades on $534 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and $264 billion in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) announced by Standard & Poor's (see Inman News story).

Check out the PowerPoint presentation Standard & Poors analysts made this morning, and listen a streaming audio recording here until the end of February.

Here's the login info:
Conference ID: 9108015
Passcode: SANDP1

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